


Of Gods and the Void Beyond the Gate

by TheEclecticSoul



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-07-06 12:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEclecticSoul/pseuds/TheEclecticSoul
Summary: An insane goddess is awakening to bring a world to its knees. An old god is awakening to stop her.Quick Note: This is actually an extremely re-edited version of my old work on FF.net.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the summary, this is an extremely re-edited version of my old work at FF.net (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3064807/1/The-Gathering-Night). Like, I changed a bunch of stuff. @ _ @;

It was pure irony, the Dark God thought, as he watched Her followers raze the country-side. The Radiant Queen was worshipped as a goddess of all things good, protecting the weak from those who would do them harm. 

Now, instead of His name being on their dying breaths, Her name was the last words they uttered. As He looked over the battlefields, He couldn’t help but wonder what had changed Her.

His love was terribly upset by what The Radiant Queen had done. The Dark God had no desire to cross The Radiant Queen Himself; Her followers were great warriors and His thieves, assassins, and even His demons, would not be able to go up against those who wielded both blade and Her fire. As the Dark God watched from where He stood, the sky darkened and rain began to fell.

His love, the Lady of Tempest, was crying.

Raising His head up to the rain, the Dark God known only as Death closed His eyes and stood there, feeling the rain fall on Him. He didn’t know how long He stood there before He heard footsteps behind Him.

“Frightening, isn’t it?” a voice said quietly. He opened His eyes and looked to his side. The Gray Lord stood beside Him, His daughter behind Him with a sorrowful expression, both looking upon the battlefield. The Warhawk took His place on Death’s other side, His jaw clenched with seething anger.

“I did not think you would come,” Death replied before He shifted His attention back to the battlefield as well. The Gray Lord merely gave a shrug, and for a moment there was silence between them.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” The Night Shepard finally spoke.

“No, it shouldn’t have,” He agreed.

“Have you talked to our Storm Goddess?” The Gray Lord asked.

“She’ll talk to you,” The Dark God answered quietly. “She has no desire to speak to me.”

“Hm.” There was silence again and the battle raged on.

.

.

.

They stood outside Her temple in the rain, waiting for Her come down. The Lady of Tempest was standing at the very top of Her temple, Her head thrown back, Her mouth opened in a silent scream as thunder and lightning rocked both the earth and heaven. 

She was absolutely beautiful.

The others stood by Him, watching Her as well, the Gray Lord with a blank expression yet inside He understood Her pain as He watched Her and the sky scream and thunder. The Warhawk clenched His fists, His own angry turmoil reflected in Her thunders. The Night Shepard stood there looking calmly, Her eyes closed with grief.

It was still raining when She finally flew down before them, soaking wet but standing proud. She glances at Him before She turns Her attention to the others. The Gray Lord frowns slightly, the only evidence of His surprise that She truly had no desire to talk to the other.

“Magnus,” She acknowledged, a nod the others.

“Ororo,” Magnus greeted with a nod.

“She must be stopped,” The Lady of Tempest declared, arms crossing.

“Yes, She must,” He agreed. The Dark God stood there silently, studying Her.

“Come,” She said, turning to the gates. “I suppose we should plan for battle.”

The temple was warm and The Dark God couldn’t help but welcome it. It reminded Him of His time with His love before She turned away from Him. He should have felt bitter about it, but He understood Her reason for walking away.

They spent days, listening to His thieves, Magnus’s metas, Wanda’s sorcerers, of information of Her warriors as Samson’s champions and Ororo’s storm-riders continued to fight. They spent days working on strategies on stopping Her, tiring out Her warriors quickly, The Dark God and the Night Shepard silently taking out companies in the night with their sorcerers, assassins and demons, while The Gray Lord, the Warlord of Flames and The Lady of Tempest would continue to hammer at Her forces in the day.

The strategy worked. In fact, the strategy worked too well. Tired of all their losses, Her forces called for Her aid and She responded. They stood before Her, watching as She laughed in their faces.

“You cannot stop me!” She exclaimed, Her eyes burning orange, and both Her red hair and red dress seemed to come alive like fire. “None of you have the power to stop me!”

“Perhaps not,” The Gray Lord replied quietly, “but together we can stop you for now.”

She laughed a cold laugh, one that sent shivers down The Dark God’s spine and, for the first time in His life, He felt fear. Looking at His love one last time, He nodded to Her a farewell. The Lady of Tempest bowed Her head before they looked at The Radiant One and they struck.

.

.

.

She survived the battle, as did the others. 

The Dark God wasn’t as fortunate. 

As He laid there, His head in Her lap, She couldn’t help but run Her hand gently through His bloody white hair. The others looked down at them, sympathy in their eyes before they turned to the fallen goddess. The Dark God’s blood-red eyes fluttered opened slightly and a smile crossed His lips.

“Did we…?”

“We have stopped Her for the time,” She replied with a shaky smile. “The others are sealing Her away as we speak.”

“Ah... That... is good…,” He whispered. “I’m so… tired…”

“It was a good battle,” She said. “Rest, my friend. Another day comes.”

“Friend…,” He breathed. “I… like that.”

He smiles one last time to Her before He closes His eyes. He never feels Her tears falling onto His face nor does He feel the sunlight of a new dawn shine upon Him.


	2. Chapter 2

Quietly making his way through the building, he couldn’t help but smile to himself at the sight of gold plates and candle-holders lining the table. Opening his sack, he slipped the gold objects in, making sure that not sound came. As he closed the bag, he tilted his head up, listening for any footsteps. When no noise came, he quickly made his way down towards the main gates.

It only took him ten minutes to empty the place of all its gold, silver and jewels. Nobles should really think of not putting their valuables in the open, or at the very least have their guards be more alert. Shaking his head, Remy slipped into the shadows of the gate, waiting for the two guards to move. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Alms? Alms?” came a low whine. The sound of a staff tapping the ground reached Remy’s ears and he glanced towards the guards to see a beggar walking towards the guards, a small wooden bowl in his left and a staff in his right. “Alms? Alms for the poor?”

“Get out of here,” one of the guards growled. The beggar stopped, raising his head to look around. The blind-fold over his eyes revealed him to be blind.

“Sir? Please?” he whined. The guard who had growled at him stepped forward, a hand reaching towards the blade by his side. Remy tensed, ready to move but the other guard stopped him. Using the distraction, he slipped up behind them.

“He’s just a blind beggar,” the second guard said to the first. “No need to use force.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the first guard growled. By then Remy had slid by them and into the shadows, waiting for them to stop talking.

“Here,” the second guard said, dropping some coins into the beggar’s bowl. “Now be off. It’s too late out here to be begging.”

“Bless you, kind sir,” the beggar said. “Bless you.” He slowly moved away from the guards, tapping the ground with his staff and into the shadows next to Remy. Remy quietly began to walk by the beggar, glancing back to make sure that the guards didn’t notice them before he looked at his companion. 

“They’re not looking?” the beggar asked quietly, his voice no longer a whine.

“Nope,” Remy replied.

“Thank the Dark God,” he muttered, straightening up and handing the bowl over to Remy. He pulled back his hood to reveal short brown hair and a boyish face. “Being hunched-over is killing my back. How was the place?”

“Rich,” Remy said, grinning. “Maybe next time I should bring Alex along. The Dark God knows, these rich people are too stupid to leave such things about, Scott.” The other laughed quietly in response as they continued home. Remy glanced into the bowl as they approached a temple to The Lady of Tempest, seeing about five coppers in the bowl. Scott just stopped in front of the temple.

“Go ahead,” Scott said. Remy gave him a sheepish look.

“It’s late,” Remy replied awkwardly. “Us going into the temple would make the priests all suspicious and all. Besides, Alex would be wondering about us.”

“I doubt it,” the other said with a smile. “Come on, Remy. Lead the way.” Remy couldn’t help but smile before he handed the bowl over to Scott and took his arm. They walked into the temple and Remy couldn’t help but feel at peace.

Sometimes he wondered about the sense of serenity he felt whenever he came here. None of the other gods seemed to have made an impact on him, not even the Dark God, the patron of thieves. Leaving Scott by the entrance with the small sack, Remy pocketed the coins in the bowl before Scott slipped it into his tunic then made his way to the altar of The Lady of Tempest. He knelt down before it, bowed his head and said a prayer to her before he got up and slipped the few coins into the donation box. Scott was still there at the entrance, waiting for him.

“You know, you’re the only thief in the city who worships Her more than the Dark God,” Scott said, sounding a bit amused. Remy just shrugged as he led Scott out of the temple. They then began to make their way home for the night.

Alex was dozing at the table when the two finally arrived. Remy shook his head as he let go of Scott’s arm and placed the sack onto the table. The thud it made roused Alex who blinked sleepily at him and Scott.

“Oh, hey,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “How was it?”

“Easy as hell,” Remy replied. Scott just pulled off his cloak and hung it up before shuffling over to his seat. Remy couldn’t help but admire the fact that Scott had the room practically memorized without ever having seen the room. He then looked back at Alex with a smile. “Next time you should come with us, little brother.” 

Alex’s face lit up in response and Remy couldn’t help but reach over and ruffle his hair. Scott just sat back and grinned. Taking his own seat, Remy and Alex began pulling out the loot, separating coins, jewelry and other valuables. The three brothers quietly joked with one another, planning what items to sell to whom and what to buy with the coins they had. 

Remy was the oldest of the three at the age of seventeen. Scott was the middle child of sixteen years while Alex was fourteen, going on fifteen in a month. Out of the three, both Remy and Scott were metas, mortal humans blessed with powers from the gods. Remy had the power to blow objects up with his hands while Scott did the same with his eyes. Unfortunately for Scott, his eyes continued to destroy so he kept his eyes closed to the world. They weren’t sure why he could not control his powers.

“That’s it,” Alex announced when they finished separating. “Scott, you and me are going over to Porters and Missy tomorrow, and Remy’s heading over to Moussier.”

“Sounds good,” Scott said with a yawn. “Gods, I’m tired.”

“Go to bed then,” Remy said. He looked at Alex. “You too. I’ll put the stuff away.” Alex looked like he wanted to protest, but he nodded. Scott got up and shuffled out of the room, Alex behind him. Remy took the opportunity to hide the loot in their hiding place before checking the locks on the door and windows. 

Honor among thieves didn’t extend to not stealing other’s hard-earned loot.

.

.

.

They walked together through the market, hoods up to hide their faces. The shorter of the two glanced warily about, as though he was expecting to be attacked at any given time. The other just strode forward with an aura of confidence, leading her companion to the bar. Stepping into the bar, she looked around before she focused onto a lone figure sitting in a corner. Smiling she walked towards him, followed by the other and stopped by the figure who looked up from his tankard.

“Been a long time, Erik,” she began, pulling the hood back. She gave the man a good-natured smile as she flicked a strand of red hair away from her face.

“That it has, Raven,” Erik replied, gesturing to the empty seats. She took a seat and her companion took the other, pulling his hood off as well. “And how are you, Logan?”

“Fine,” the man grunted. A waitress approached them and both Raven and Logan gave their orders to her before she scurried off. Logan leaned back, eyeing Erik with something akin to suspicion. “What are we doin’ here?”

“I need information,” Erik replied. “Something’s going on in Prauland and Trakia, and we’re all a bit concerned with the situation.” he waitress arrived at the moment with two more tankards, placing them both before Raven and Logan.

“Two each,” she said. Erik handed over six pieces of copper to the waitress who pocketed two of the coppers and left.

“The Herald of the Void was recently killed,” Erik said, a look of concern crossing his face. “That mean the Void cultists will be ramping up their violence before selecting a new one. I would also like information of a new advisor to the Red Queen’s Speaker. The Reds have been acting more unusual recently since the advisor came.”

“I see,” Raven mused. Logan just snorted and picked up his tankard.

“I won’t lie, this time seems serious,” Erik said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead in a sign of aggravation.

“Chuck won’t fight,” Logan grunted.

“No, he won’t,” Erik agreed, “but Emma and I will.”

 

 

Metas were almost as funny as humans, Erik mused as he left the bar after Raven and Logan. While they had powers beyond humans, they still had the same weaknesses as humans: feelings. This weakness was probably the reason that drew The Lady of Tempest to all mortals with a sense of compassion. 

This weakness was also probably the reason that drew The Gray Lord towards the mortal realm in the guise of Erik. Ororo and Wanda had been quite amused when they found out.

Walking through the marketplace, Erik took in the sound of life, his eyes looking about at the busy humans. There weren’t many metas in this world ever since the Cleansing and, while he had been sore about it, Erik knew the whole situation had been entirely his fault. 

And he thought the sin of pride was only a human trait.

Still, as he walked through the people, he could sense which of them had that spark that marked them as different. Many of them would never awaken that power and Erik felt a surge of bitterness at that. 

Something caught his eyes, causing Erik to stop and turn to find three young men walking out of a pawn shop. The first was a blond and Erik could see the spark within him, burning brighter, and Erik felt a little joyful at the thought of another meta entering the world. Behind him came a brunet with a blindfold and a blindingly powerful fire that let Erik know that that one’s powers had awakened. The blindfold puzzled Erik for a moment, unsure if that awakened power had anything to do with the young man’s blindness. 

It was then a red-head appeared and everything seemed to stop for Erik.

The oldest of the three, he had a handsome face with strange eyes – red upon black – and he walked with a confidence that reminded Erik of Emma and Charles. The power the man had was as powerful as the blinded one, the fire burning bright and hot within. 

It was the blackness that would flicker at times within the flames that caught Erik’s interest.

The power of the metas tend to burn with a single color, a secret known only to the Gray Lord Himself. A second fire sometimes showed itself, but even then, it would harmoniously join with the first. Black flames were practically unheard of in metas and, to be honest, Erik hadn’t seen that darkness in a long time. Curious Erik decided to follow the three. 

Perhaps he would be able to use them in the future.

 

 

“Someone’s following us,” Scott said quietly. “I can hear their footsteps.”

“And people think blind people can’t do anything,” Alex muttered. “Alley coming up to the right.” 

“You know what to do.” There was wordless agreement from the other two and the three turned into the alley. Remy bent down and picked up a few stones along the way before they all stopped and turned to see. Three huge thugs stopped before them and Remy groaned. Alex moved to get before Scott, a small knife drawn as he warily looked at them.

“I hear you just got paid,” one of the thugs said. “You know the drill, ten golds for a job.”

“Bull shit!” Alex cursed at them. “Just because you guys couldn’t get into that noble’s place doesn’t mean you can scare us!” All three thugs started towards them menacingly.

Erik stood on top of the building, looking down at the group. He watched in amusement as the blond ducked and a flash of red light came from the brunet to throw one of the thugs back.

_Ah, the reason for his blindness_ , Erik thought, shaking his head in pity. The redhead then threw some rocks at the other two thugs and each of the stones exploded in a loud explosion, causing the goons to stumble back. It gave the brunet the opportunity to blast another one of them away. The leader growled and charged towards them. Both Remy and Alex dodged the charge, but Scott wasn’t as fortunate, getting plowed into the wall behind him.

“Scott!” Remy cried out before a fist hit him in the stomach. “Fuck!”

“Remy!” Alex cried out and Erik’s eyes widened at the spark within the blond suddenly burst into a power flame, and the leader and the walls of the building were destroyed. Remy turned to see the destruction, surprise on his face while Scott slowly got up.

“Oh shit,” Alex mumbled, staring with wide-eyes at the destruction before him. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

“No time for that now, Alex,” Scott said as he slowly walked forward. Remy moved to him and took his hand. “We have to get out of here before the guards come.”

“Dark God take me, I didn’t think we’d all be metas,” Alex said as he helped Remy with Scott.

“Neither did I,” Scott said as they walked out of the alley. “Hurry, let’s go.”

Erik watched as the three stumbled away, a thoughtful look on his face. They were powerful, he was sure of that. Now even more curious Erik followed them.

 

 

Remy was thankful that no one saw them when they escaped. He wasn’t sure if the thug Alex had blasted was dead or alive, though honestly he didn’t care. What he was sure about was that the other two thugs would probably be pointing the guards in their direction.

“We need to get out of the city,” Remy said as he opened the door and let Scott and Alex in first. He glanced about before stepping in and bolting the door behind him. “They’ll be pointing the guards right at us.”

“I _know_ ,” Scott growled. “Damn it, I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“Well, _sorry!_ ” Alex burst out. “I didn’t mean to suddenly _blow up a building!_ ”

“Don’t worry about that,” Scott said. “Right now, we just need to get our stuff and get the hell out of here.”

“Maybe they won’t tell?” Alex asked, his voice hopeful. Remy snorted as he moved into their room, pulled out a bag and began to stuff clothes in. There was a knock on the door and all three of them froze. Remy moved to the doorway and look at the other two, watching as Scott got up and shuffled over to the door.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

“Someone who can help you,” was the reply.

“Help us? With what?” Scott asked tightly.

“With getting away from the guards,” the other said. “Who, I might add, have just been informed by one of those goons about you three.”

“Dark God take them!” Alex swore. Remy couldn’t help but glance back into the room, wondering just how much stuff they could bring with them and how much time before the guards arrived.

“Are you going to let me in or not?” the stranger asked, bringing his attention back to Scott and Alex. “People might start to question as to why I’m talking to you from out here.” 

Scott’s lips tightened, thinking for a second before he unbolted the door and opened it. An older man stepped in, silver hair that stopped a couple of inches above his shoulders. He wore fine clothing that showed that he was well off and had an aura that spoke of some noble heritage.

“Who are you?” Remy asked, fingering his knives. He could see Alex’s hand on the hilt of his blade.

“Erik Maximoff,” the man replied, “and I’ve come to offer you my help.”

“Why?” Scott asked, taking two steps back. Erik looked at him before glancing at the others.

“Because I believe in protecting other metas from humans,” he replied.

“We’re not metas,” Alex said. Erik gave him an amused look.

“I just watched you blast a building into pieces,” Erik stated. “I’ve also seen this one shoot red flames from his eyes and the others blow up rocks. I’m pretty sure that you three are all metas and it’s my job to get metas to safety.”

“You’re a follower of the Gray Lord,” Remy said. “I’m not following anyone who follows him.” Alex gave Remy a surprised look while Erik just frowned.

“Who cares about that right now,” Scott interrupted. “What’s the catch?”

“I’m sorry?” Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The catch. There’s no way you’d help us three for free.”

“All I ask is that you help two of my friends,” Erik said. “Of course, that would mean that you all will have to be separated.”

“No way,” Alex replied, shaking his head. “No way am I leaving my brothers.”

“Then you’ll all be caught.”

“He’s right,” Remy added. Scott was frowning and Remy could tell that he was thinking. Alex just shook his head and Remy wanted to sigh.

“What’s your offer?” Scott asked quietly.

“You claim sanctuary under Lord Xavier and Lady Frost,” Erik said easily.

“Nobles,” Alex muttered under his breath, “and most likely Gray Lord followers.”

“Lord Xavier follows the Lady of Tempest, if that helps,” Erik offered.

“I won’t go,” Remy suddenly said.

“What?” Alex and Scott chorused together while Erik raised an eyebrow.

“That’d be too suspicious, all three of us claiming sanctuary,” Remy said. “Call me paranoid, but I won’t risk Scott and Alex.”

“And what are you going to do?” Erik asked.

“What I do best: procuring items,” Remy said airily. Scott snorted in response while Alex rolled his eyes. Erik just looked amused. “Look, I’m the only one here who really has a chance out there and you know it.”

“I know,” Scott replied quietly. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “We better get going then, Erik, if we want to beat the guards.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lord Charles Xavier was a scholar of ancient history and philosophy as well as a renowned healer for both body and soul. He was also a powerful meta from what Scott could find out, one whose magic cause either good or evil to another’s mind but chose to not use that power for ill. Xavier’s home, a huge mansion, was surprisingly a home for both young metas and humans, all who had family and those who were orphaned. He schooled all the children in both an education and combat, and for metas to learn how to use their powers. 

Lady Emma Frost was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and was a ruthless businesswoman, much like her sire. She helped Xavier create the school and also taught the children. She too had the ability to work with the mind, but unlike Xavier, Emma was more than willing to use her powers. The only other difference between the two was the fact that Xavier was a follower of the Lady of Tempest and Emma worshipped no gods.

The world was red when Scott opened his eyes for the first time in eight years. The visor that Erik had given him stopped him from shooting anyone with the red flames from his eyes, but it also let him see only in shades of red. It was a small price to pay for sight. As he explored the school with Alex, he met other metas, some the same age as him, a few standing out to him.

Piotr Rasputin was the son of a farmer who had a love of the arts and the ability to turn into metal. There was also Robert Drake, a mischievous youngster with the power to create ice; Hank McCoy, a huge, blue-furred scholar with an amicable personality; Kurt Wagner, an elf-like creature with dark-blue skin, who can teleport almost anywhere; and Kurt’s half-sister Rogue, a red-head with a streak of white and inability to touch anyone.

Strange people, but oddly enough Scott felt comfortable.

Alex chose to work with Emma instead of Xavier, feeling more comfortable in being in a more active role than passive. Scott had a sneaking suspicion that there was also the fact that one of Emma’s girls, a green-hair teenager, seemed to have caught Alex’s eyes.

Erik was also a scholar who taught alongside Xavier. Unfortunately, that was all that Scott and Alex could find out. Apparently, Erik traveled the world most of the times, but would come back to help Xavier and Emma in teaching. What was his powers were still a mystery, and Scott couldn’t feel a little put out at not knowing what it was.

At times though, Scott wondered how Remy was doing. Since Erik had taken him and Alex to Xavier’s, he hadn’t heard anything from Remy, and frankly, he missed Remy terribly. Alex also missed Remy when they sat together for breakfast, talking about dreams and the past. After a month, they talked about Remy every other day; a year later, once a month.

Twelve years later, Remy was just a passing thought.

.

.

.

There were two strangers in her temple. The priestess paused in her walk to watch the man praying at the altar to the Lady of Tempest, the other merely looking about. She wasn’t sure if they were followers of the Tempest, but she definitely knew that she’d never seen either of them before until tonight.

“I am sorry for intruding at this hour of the night,” the man suddenly spoke. He stood up and turned to face the priestess. She wanted to scowl at the fact that both their faces were covered in shadows from their hoods but chose to nod at the man instead.

“It is alright,” she said calmly. “Our temple is always open.”

“Not a good idea,” he replied and she could swear that he was smiling at her. “You never know when thieves decide to take a chance and raid the place. You are quite trusting of people to do that.”

“I’m not very trusting at all,” she said. “I could call the guards right now and have them take you away.”

“True, but by the time they get here, we’ll be gone,” he replied. The other – a young woman, she noted – snorted at that, as the priestess could practically see the cheeky grin the man had in the shadows. She couldn’t help but smile back in amusement. “I don’t suppose we have time for an introduction before you call the guards on me?”

“I am Storm,” the priestess said after a moment.

“Fitting name,” the man said thoughtfully, “but I’m betting that’s not your real name. That’s alright, you may call me Gambit, and this is… Talon.” The young woman nodded a greeting to Storm, and she noticed Talon elbowing Gambit with a scowl.

“I’m betting that’s not either of your true names,” Storm said, smiling at the man. Gambit just grinned and gave her a mock-bow. “I find it strange to find two thieves such as yourselves in the Lady of Tempest’s temple.”

“I like being mysterious that way,” he said with a shrug. “Ah, but I am taking away time that can be spent on sleep. My apologies, Stormy.”

“Don’t call me that,” she replied automatically then for no reason blushed. Gambit just grinned and before her eyes, they suddenly were climbing up the walls and disappeared through the window. Surprised Storm took flight and up to the window, looking for the two. There were no signs of them except for a card on the window ledge.

_The Ace of Spades_ , she thought as she picked up the card. _An interesting calling card, young Gambit._

Smiling in amusement, she tucked the card away and looked around the room, noting that nothing had been stolen before she flew out the window and away. She knew that both of them were metas, the flames burning brightly within them.

The bits of black fire within Gambit concerned her though. 

She shook her head, annoyed at the concern. The night was still young for her after all and she always did love to fly with the wind. Laughing quietly at her meeting, she shed the image of the priestess of the temple and rode the winds as the Lady of Tempest.

 

 

It had been an interesting meeting to say the least for Remy. He hadn’t expected to actually meet a follower of the Lady of Tempest so late at night, but there was always a first time for everything. He didn’t mind getting caught by Storm though; if he was to get caught by women who were that gorgeous in life, he’d die a happy man.

The temple had changed a bit since the last time he’d come, more foliage and flora about as well as more guards. Remy suppose that it would have changed after twelve years and, as he walked down the streets of the city, he knew how much had changed. It made him wonder how Alex and Scott were doing and if they’d actually still remember they had an older brother.

_I’ll just pop in, say hi and get out_ , Remy thought to himself. _No need to bring trouble to them._

“Ready for tomorrow?” he asked quietly to his companion. She shrugged, a hand slipping out to take hold of his own. “What, are you nervous?”

“What if he tells me to leave?”

“Then we kick him in the balls, and you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life,” Remy replied with a chuckle. She snorted and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. With that settled, they made their way towards the inn. A decent night of sleep and a decision of just how they were going to make a visit for tomorrow were needed.

.

.

.

“Magnus! It has been a while,” Charles greeted enthusiastically. “Come in, come in! The children will be most pleased to see you!”

“Children?” Magnus replied, lifting an eyebrow. “If memory serves, the oldest child here is almost thirty.” He shifted his bag to shake Charles’s hand in greeting. Out of all the people in the Institute, only Xavier and Emma knew his true name, though out of the two Charles was the only one who knew who Magnus really is.

“Of course, but compared to us…” Magnus laughed and Charles smiled as he turned and walked with Magnus down the halls. “Scott is most anxious to have a game of chess with you, and Bobby would very much like to hear of your travels.”

“He should go traveling with you one day, Magnus,” another voice joined in. Charles and Magnus both turned to see Emma approaching them, an amused look on her face. “That way I and the rest of my Hellions won’t have to put up with his pouting. Hello Magnus. It is good to see you again.”

“Emma, beautiful as ever,” Magnus replied with a nod. The three continued down the hall towards Charles’s study.

“Raven and Logan are here,” she said, her smile gone in an instant and a very serious look on her face. “The new Speaker of the Red Queen has been riling up her people. I wouldn’t be surprised if they begin to have crusades in The Red Queen’s name in the next month or so.”

“Really,” Magnus replied flatly. “Perhaps we should get rid of her as soon as possible.” Charles frowned at the suggestion while Emma nodded.

“I think Fury and Brand are on it,” she added. “It’s been difficult though. Raven has said that the Speaker has surrounded herself with many bodyguards, and assassinations have failed numerous times. Even she doesn’t think she’d be able to do the assassination successfully.”

“Now that’s frightening,” Charles mused. “An assassination Raven cannot do. Those bodyguards must be extraordinary fighters.” They finally reached Charles’s study and the man opened the door. Raven and Logan both turned as Magnus, Charles and Emma all entered the room, Charles closing the door behind him.

“Erik,” Raven said, crossing her arms. Magnus noted that she was in her normal form: blue-skin, red hair, yellow eyes and dressed in white sleeveless dress with white gloves and boots. Logan looked just as rough as usual.

“Raven. Logan,” Magnus greeted. Charles took the opportunity to sit down at his desk, signaling for the others to take a seat. Raven and Emma both took a seat while Magnus and Logan remained standing.

“You hear about the Speaker and her guards?” Raven asked.

“That they are quite good and even Raven wouldn’t be able to defeat them? Yes, I have,” Magnus said.

“There’s more,” Raven began. “From what I can gather, she’s been busy training new metas, most likely for war. I’m sure she has the same powers are Emma and Charles, given how easily she’s been able to persuade people to join.”

“No wonder she seems to have such influence on those followers,” Emma mused.

“The new Herald of the Void and Dark Riders are also stirring up trouble,” Logan added. “Seems like they’ve been massacring people who won’t give their loyalty to the Void.”

“Barbarians.” A look of disgust crossed Emma’s face while Charles frowned.

“Will your X-Men and Hellions be ready to fight?” Magnus asked, looking at Emma and Charles.

“I know my Hellions are ready,” Emma replied with a nod.

“Of course,” Charles said, a resigned look on his face. Magnus glanced over at Raven, noting a flash of worry that crossed her face before settling back to a look of disdain.

“Good,” Magnus said. “I suppose that there is nothing more to say?”

“Not that I can think of,” Logan replied. Raven shook her head.

“Alright. Now I’d like to go to my room for a bit and work up enough energy to take on Bobby.”

.

.

.

Getting into the Institute was ridiculously easy. The guards were alert, that was true, but they were only alert to what was around them. Scaling the walls and getting inside through the windows was just way too easy for Remy and Laura. Shaking his head in amusement, Remy closed the window as Laura quietly opened the door, and both silently made their way through the halls and in the shadows.

The place was incredible, from the sheer size of the place to the valuables that were strewn all over the place. Just the idea of raiding the place was enough to make Remy feel happy, except it would most likely make Alex and Scott ready to murder him. Sighing mournfully in his mind, Remy continued on until they reached the third floor. Pulling out a map, he scanned it to see that Scott’s room is the third door to the right at the end of the hallway and Alex was right across from him. 

Smiling Remy walked down the hallway, Laura comfortably at his back as he had half an ear alert for anybody before stopping between the two doors. He crossed his arms, a frown on his face as he tried to figure out who he wanted to visit first before he heard a giggle come from Alex’s room.

_Right, Scott it is._ Remy knocked on the door lightly and frowned when he realized that Scott wasn’t in. He didn’t really want to bother Alex since he was apparently entertaining someone at the moment and he didn’t want to sit in Scott’s room until he returned. 

“Well?” Laura asked quietly.

“Well, plan B,” Remy replied just as quietly. “We find your father.”

 

 

“Someone’s here,” Charles suddenly said, a frown crossing his face. Magnus and Scott both looked up from their game of chess as Xavier, who was currently seated by the fireplace with a book in hand.

“Professor?” Scott asked, looking rather concerned.

“How odd,” Charles said to himself. “I can’t seem to read him, but I know he’s here.”

“Should I call for the others?” Scott asked, standing up from his seat.

“No,” Charles said after a moment. “They mean no harm. In fact, it would seem that they are looking for you and Logan.”

“Me?”

“I’ve let Logan know we have guests. Come, they’re approaching the kitchen, Scott. I think we should go meet them.”

 

 

The amount of food in the kitchen was amazing. Remy couldn’t help but look around in awe, having never seen this much food in his life. With Laura rooting around and coming up with some cold beef and bread, he picked up an apple and wandered around the kitchen.

“Little sister, you’re going to have a stomachache,” he warned her.

“It’ll be fine.” He sighed as she popped a claw out to slice the meat, making a small sandwich.

“That is so unsanitary.”

“Don’t worry, I clean ‘em. Sometimes.” She was about to take a bite when the door suddenly opened and they came face to face with a young man short brown hair.

“What the–?” a young man blurted out in surprise.

“Is something wrong, Bobby?” a female voice asked and a young woman with brown hair appeared. “Hey! How did you get in here?”

“The door was unlocked,” Remy replied dryly, gesturing to the door they had entered. The two looked over at the door before at each other and then glared at him. Remy raised both hands, one still holding the apple, with an innocent expression on his face while Laura took a bite of her sandwich. “Hey, we did nothing wrong. It is not our fault that the guards don’t seem to realize that one has to look up once in a while.”

The other door opened and three other people entered. Remy turned his slightly to see who else had arrived, blinking in surprised when he recognized Erik. The other two, one about the same age as Erik, was completely bald while the other was a young man with short brown hair and a funny looking thing over his eyes. Remy frowned before he realized with a smile who the young man was.

“Scott! Gods above, it’s great to see you again!” Remy said. He would have moved before he remembered the other two people who had caught him. He looked at them, taking in the curious looks they had and waved his free hand at them. “You two aren’t going to blast me with fire or something like that if I move, are you?”

“Um, no?” the woman stuttered out, looking surprised.

“Who are you?” Scott asked warily. Remy turned to look at him in surprised then sighed.

“I can’t believe you don’t remember my voice,” Remy groused as he pulled his hood off. “You’re not much of a brother for forgetting me like that, you know. ‘Course there’s always the fact that you keep getting hit in the head when you were younger.” He watched as Scott’s expression change to confusion and then realization.

“Remy!” Scott said, sounding surprised.

“In the flesh,” Remy replied. “You still remember my name. I’m touched.” Scott walked over and gave him a tight hug which Remy returned.

“You asshole! Where have you been all this time?” Scott demanded as he let go of Remy. 

“Here and there and everywhere, little brother,” he replied flippantly. “Had a little business here, and I figured I’d come to see how you and Alex were doing.” Scott frowned slightly at the word business but was interrupted by the previous two.

“You’re brothers?” the other young man blurted out in surprise. “I thought it was just you and Alex!” Scott’s frown turned to a sheepish look, and both the young man and woman looked stunned by the expression.

“Tempest, whoever he is, he’s made Scott human,” the woman said. Remy gave her an amused look while Scott scowled at them. There was a chuckle from behind and Remy glanced back to see Erik and the other man looking just as amused.

“Remy, it is good to see you again,” Erik said smoothly. “I see your skills are just as sharp as usual.”

“Of course they are,” Remy replied with a mock bow to him. “I didn’t reach master thief by just twiddling my thumb.” There was a strangled noise from the young man, who looked even more shocked than before.

“Of course not,” Erik agreed. Remy gave a quick glance over at Laura and sighed at the sight of her making another small sandwich. He gave Erik an apologetic look as Erik looked at Laura in bemusement before shifting his attention to the other man, who stepped forward with a hand out.

“I am Lord Charles Xavier, the headmaster of the Institute,” he said. Remy took his hand and shook it.

“Remy LeBeau,” he replied. Lord Xavier raised an eyebrow as he withdrew his hand. 

“I was under the impression that you are also a Summers,” Lord Xavier said.

“Same mother, different father,” Remy said as he rubbed the apple on his cloak. “Family is family though in the end.” He took a bite of the apple as he looked back at Scott. The door opened once more, this time revealing their target.

_And there he is._ Xavier gave Remy a sharp look, startling the thief a bit.

“What’s going on, Chuck?” Logan growled. His nose flared and his eyes turned towards Laura. She finished her sandwich as she moved up next to Remy. “Who are these two?”

“You know, this could have waited ‘til morning,” Remy muttered. Laura elbowed him. “Ow. Tempest, you were so cute when you were younger. What happened, little sister?”

“I grew up,” Laura retorted. Remy sighed before shifting his attention back to Logan.

“I apologize for the late meeting, but–”

“Get on with it,” Logan interrupted.

“Well, at least I know where you get that temper from,” Remy said with a sigh. “Special delivery, Mr. Logan. Here’s your daughter.” With that he pushed Laura forward. 

.

.

.

Magnus closed the door to his room and bolted it shut before he turned to look at his bed. He wasn’t tired yet, chuckling at memories of Logan’s expression. Taking off his cloak and belt off, he put them on the bed before making his way to the balcony. Opening the door, Magnus was greeted with a cool breeze as he stepped out. Leaning on the railing Magnus stared out into the night sky, looking at the stars and the moon and feeling the silence.

“It is a nice night, is it not?” came a voice. Magnus looked to his left to see Ororo floating down from the sky. Straightening he gave her a nod of his head in greetings.

“It is,” he replied. “It has been a long time, Ororo. What brings you here?”

“A pair of interesting thieves crossed my path the night before,” Ororo said. “One of them reminded me of an old friend of ours. I followed them here tonight and was quite amused at how easy it was for them to enter.”

“You must be talking about Remy and Laura,” Magnus said with a chuckle. “You missed a good show just now. I have to admit, Remy is a curious meta.” There was silence between the two before Ororo spoke again.

“Something is happening,” she said softly. “I can feel it, but I do not know what it is. A darkness comes, one that I haven’t felt in ages but at the same time there is a glimmer of light in the shadows.”

“I know,” Magnus replied quietly.

“What will we do? The last time we fought against Her, we almost failed to defeat Her,” she said. “We cannot hope to win with just the four of us.”

“We will think of something,” Magnus said. “Already Xavier’s X-Men and Emma’s Hellions prove to be powerful enough to stop Her warriors. It is She that we must think of a way to deal with.”


	4. Chapter 4

Remy woke up to Laura cuddled against his back. With a groan, he shifted onto his back, letting the girl curl up against his side.

_Not going to lie, but this is getting a little awkward._

Logan had taken the situation as well as to be expected, especially so late at night. He just stared at Laura with a look of trying to process what Remy had said before turning to leave. Laura seemed to droop as Lord Xavier smoothly explained Logan’s reaction and offered them a place to stay.

As Remy absently played with Laura’s hair, her eyes fluttered opened and she let out a yawn before cuddling closer to Remy.

“Time to get up, little sister,” he said softly.

“Nuh-uh,” she replied. He rolled his eyes.

“Okay, little sister, let me put it this way – time to let me out of bed so I can use the bathroom.” Laura grumbled and got up, pulling on her pants and boots.

“You are getting too big to be sharing a bed with me,” Remy groused as he also pulled on his pants and boots. “Hell, you were already too big when I found you.”

“But you’re comfy,” she replied. Remy snorted as he unbolted the door.

One trip to the bathroom later, the two made their way to the kitchen for breakfast. Remy’s eyes narrowed when he spotted a familiar blond head sitting next to a green-haired woman, and quietly he moved up behind Alex. Catching Scott’s eye at the table, along with a pretty read-head with a streak of white in her hair and the young man from last night, Remy quietly moved to the side of Alex’s head.

“Hey, little brother, had a good time last night?” he asked with a sly grin. Alex jerked away with a scowl before his expression turned to confusion then shock.

To say that Alex was happy to see Remy was a bit of an understatement. The words ecstatic, joyful or even jubilant couldn’t even describe Alex as he embraced Remy in a rather tight hug. Remy, while he enjoyed the fact that Alex was glad to see him, was starting to wonder if there was any chance Alex would be willing to let go of him soon so that he’d be able to breathe. 

As it was, Scott and Laura were both amused and a lot of students were staring at Scott like he’d grown a second head, fire-eyes and all.

“Little brother, I’m going to need to breathe soon,” Remy wheezed out.

“Sorry, sorry!” Alex apologized, letting go of Remy. “I mean, Tempest! I can’t believe you’re here, Remy! It’s been years with no contact from you at all!”

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” Remy said, scratching the back of his head. “I just didn’t want to trouble you guys with my work.”

“I distinctly remember helping you in some of those works,” Scott murmured.

“Dark God take me, our fearless leaders were both humans once!” the young man from the kitchen said, clasping his chest and looking overly stricken. “Kitty! Hank! Something’s wrong with them and I’m scared!”

“Shut up Bobby,” Alex said, turning to glare at him. Remy just chuckled in amusement as he watched both his brothers glare at Bobby. Bobby in turn chose to use another young man with dark-blue skin and a tail as a shield.

“Save me, Kurt!” Bobby cried out melodramatically. “I’m too cute to die!”

“Don’t you mean annoying?” Kurt replied. Bobby pouted as Kurt, Kitty and Hank all grinned at him. Scott and Alex still looked annoyed at Bobby while Remy joined in with the other three and grinned. Laura took the opportunity to perch herself in an empty seat next to Bobby, startling the young man as she looked him over.

“Yeah, too cute to die,” she said with a nod. Remy snickered at Bobby’s poleaxed expression as he ruffled her hair. Laura growled, swatting away Remy’s hand.

“Today’s a free day, people,” Scott announced. “Tell the others and enjoy your day.” Bobby and Kitty both gave a loud whoop before tearing out of the room at top speed. Remy blinked when Kitty went through the wall instead of the door like Bobby. Hank and Kurt just shook their heads and followed Bobby out the door at a more sedate pace.

“Let’s grab some food, little sister,” Remy said and Laura nodded. Alex’s eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized Laura’s presence, and he turned to look at Scott. Remy and Laura quickly grabbed some breakfast before taking a seat with Scott and Alex. He noticed that the green-haired woman and the redhead were still there.

“Where’s Logan?” he asked casually, noting Laura stiffening slightly at the name. Scott glanced at Laura before he shrugged.

“Might be with momma,” the redhead replied. “He seemed a little… off this morning.”

“Momma?” Laura queried, suddenly interested in the redhead.

“Her mother and Logan are a couple,” Scott explained. Laura looked contemplative while Alex gave her a look. “Nice to know you suddenly have a sister, right?” The redhead blinked, a frown on her face as she looked at Scott. Laura shrugged, popping a claw out to slice some of the meat.

“Laura,” Remy scolded. She sighed, retracted the claw and picked up a knife.

“I cleaned them this morning,” she complained.

“There’s company, be polite.” Laura grumbled but began to eat. Remy glanced up to see Alex, the redhead and the green-haired woman staring at Laura.

“Oh. Well, that explains a lot,” the redhead mumbled.

“So what happened all these years? How’d you pick her up? Where did you pick her up?” Alex demanded.

“You want me to tell you everything here?” Remy asked, looking around the kitchen.

“We could go to the sitting room,” Scott suggested, “or maybe one of the studies. Today’s a good day, so maybe the balcony is an option.”

“Unless Emma is already there,” Alex muttered. 

“She already is,” the green-haired woman said.

“Sitting room’s fine,” Remy said as he raised an eyebrow at the two. “Just, would you let me and Laura finish? She’s still a growing girl, you know.”

“I’m going for seconds, so you can go first,” Laura announced. Remy looked at her empty plate then up at her. “What, I’m hungry.”

“The resemblance is just uncanny,” the redhead said, a smile on her face. Scott and Alex snorted while the green-haired woman giggled. Remy shrugged, a look of mild exasperation on his face before he got up, picking up his mug.

“Shall we go?” The others got up and led the way to the sitting room. Remy’s eyes went wide, taking in the size of the room

“This is a sitting room?” Remy asked, looking around. “It’s big enough to be a dance hall.”

“The dance hall is down the hall,” Alex replied absently as he pushed Remy towards one of the couches. “Now start talking.”

“Pushy, pushy, pushy,” Remy said with an amused shake of his head. “What happened to my little brother who use to let Scott and me do all the talking?”

“He grew up. Talk now!”

“Alright, alright!” Remy said with a laugh. “Lots of things happened twelve years ago, you know? Do you want the short version or—?”

“Just start from when you left us before Scott and I hurt you, Remy.”

“Right. Well, get comfy because this is going to be a long story…”


	5. Chapter 5

It had been good money when the man gave Remy the job. Help him look for some runaways and get paid like a king. Remy needed to get out of the city to begin with, to make sure that none of the City Watch would be able to get to Scott or Alex. It had only been a week and already, Remy was worried about Alex’s powers and how Scott was doing.

The man though gave Remy the creeps and that was saying something. Remy had seen a lot of strange people during his life as a thief, but this man, with his pale skin and red-on-black eyes so much like his own and a smile that looked like a demon’s grin…

This man was evil.

Squashing his fear of the man, Remy did eventually find the runaways. He had been surprised to find them in underground and even more to find children with them. He wasn’t sure why his employer was so adamant on finding them, but money was money, and he was done with the job. He returned with the information and a few days later, the man called upon him once again, this time to lead a group of people down there. The pay was double of the last job and Remy agreed with a slight hesitation.

“Why?” Remy asked, frowning in confusion.

“To bring them back to the world above,” the man said with a smile. Remy suppressed the urge to shudder at the smile and just nodded in response. He stood behind the man that night, facing a group of armed men and listening to the man speak.

“I’ve hired you all,” the man started as the people all quieted down, “to look for some runaways of mine. From what my source here has told me they are currently hiding below the city.”

“Anything else we should know about them?” one of the men asked.

“They’re all metas,” he replied. Remy blinked at that and wondered how he could have missed that. He had just assumed that the runaways were former slaves of the man.

“No wonder he’s willing to pay us so much,” another armed man muttered.

“Good luck to you all,” the man said, and Remy left with the others below the city. For some reason though, he felt that the man was looking at him as he walked away.

“So who was that guy?” he asked as he glanced back at the man.

“Some alchemist turned sorcerer,” a man replied with a grunt. “Calls himself Sinister, and trust me, that name speaks the truth about him. You don’t want to cross him, y’know?” Remy nodded mutely in response; Sinister was a good name for him.

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“Runaway metas?” Scott asked, his brow furrowing. “I haven’t heard anything about them.”

“You wouldn’t,” Remy explained. “They don’t trust people so they created their own underground city.”

“So what happened to them?” Alex asked.

“I led the men there and they took care of the runaways,” Remy said airily. “My job was done, I got paid and then I moved on to the next city.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

Remy stared in awe as he watched the two strangely dressed men literally swinging through the city. The fact that they were swinging with no fear at such heights was pretty amazing enough, but when one of the men started to climb up the wall without any equipment at all, Remy decided that this was one of the weirder things he’d seen thus far.

“Who were they?” Remy asked one of the bystanders.

“Daredevil and Spider-Man,” a boy piped up before the man could answer. “They’re good people and fight the bad people.”

“I see,” Remy said, glancing down at the child then back at the man.

“They’re vigilantes, fighting against the Osborn-Fisk nobility,” the man explained.

“The Osborn-Fisk nobility?”

“You’re a stranger to Naemery, I take it?” the man said. “I am Curt Connors. I’m a doctor here in Naemery and this is my son, William.” He held out a hand and Remy realized at that point that he was missing his right arm. Remy took his hand though since he felt it’d be rude to not shake hands with the man.

“How do you…? I mean I... Not to be rude…” Remy started before Curt laughed.

“That’s okay, he replied. “I’m lucky enough that most of my patients don’t really need two hands to help. Besides my colleague has enough hands to spare.”

I’m not sure that I really want to know the meaning of that, Remy thought. Curt just smiled and he started to walk away with William. Remy moved to follow him.

“The Osborn-Fisk nobility is what you would call the ruling families,” Curt began. “They’re like the monarchy here, even though we have a council who are supposed to be the ones passing the laws. Unfortunately, they all seem to be in both Lord Osborn and Lord Fisk’s pockets.”

“They’re the reason dad lost his arm,” William said, his tone angry. Curt frowned down at his son while Remy nodded.

“Spider-Man and Daredevil are just a few people who are willing to fight against the Osborn-Fisk nobility,” Curt continued after a moment. “There are others, but those two are perhaps the most popular in the city because they are willing come out in the day.”

“I see,” Remy said, nodding. “Thank you for telling me this.”

“No problem,” Curt said. They stopped before a small building and he gestured towards it. “This is my clinic. We live in the back so if you ever need help, we’re here.”

“Thank you,” Remy said. He then looked around. “Would you mind if you pointed me towards an inn?” Curt smiled and pointed in a direction which Remy followed, and soon found an inn to check in. Sitting in his room and staring out the window, he wondered if perhaps a little thievery from the Osborn-Fisk nobility was in order.

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“You robbed Lords Fisk and Osborn?” the redhead whose name was Rogue asked in awe.

“Yes, I did indeed _procure_ some valuable items from them,” Remy said leaning back with a smile. Somehow through the course of his story-telling, people began to trickle in. Laura had slinked in and flopped onto the couch with Remy, using his leg as a pillow as she listened to him talk. “Not going to lie, those were probably some of the best days of my life, stealing everything not nailed down from Fisk and Osborn, and selling them all for a pretty penny on the market. Of course, about half of the money went to Curt to help with his clinic.”

“That was pretty nice of you, Remy,” Scott said softly.

“Least I could do in that city,” Remy said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Besides, I didn’t really do much. Spider-Man and Daredevil did most of the fighting. All I did was sit on the sidelines and, uh, redirect shipments.”

“Redirect shipments…?” Bobby asked.

“He means smuggling,” Alex replied. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Remy?” Remy grinned at him.

“So what happened next?” Bobby asked impatiently.

“Well, I only stayed in Naemery for two years before I went off,” Remy said. “When I left, both Fisk and Osborn had the guards all out looking for everyone, including me. I really didn’t like to keep looking over my shoulders so I said good-bye to the city and left for Trakia.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

Trakia was hot and Remy wondered why he decided to come to the city. He knew that he was really doing this to master his thieving skills since different cities had different types of guards and thieves but dying of heatstroke hadn’t really crossed his mind until now. Making his way through the marketplace and keeping an eye on his purse, he finally made it to the inn. Stepping into the room, he glanced around to look for the man who had hired him for his next job, spotting him in a darkened corner towards the back of the room.

“Damn hot out there,” Remy said in greeting as he approached the man. He noted the bandages that covered half of the man’s face from the mouth down and wondered what had happened to him.

“It’s always hot in Trakia,” he replied. “I’m Chamber.”

“Gambit. What’s the job?” Remy asked as he wondered how Chamber was able to talk to him through his bandages. Chamber leaned forward, handing over a picture.

“I need you to follow a man,” he started. “I know, it’s not something for a thief to do, but you’ve got the skills to remain undetected.”

“Follow him?” Remy took the picture and looked at it. “What will I be looking for?”

“Whether he’s a Void cultist or not.” Remy lifted an eyebrow at that and Chamber chuckled. “I know, when you think of Void cultists, you think of the Dark Riders or the Horsemen, bringing indiscriminate death everywhere, but there’s actually a bunch who are part of society.”

“And you think this one’s a hidden Void cultist?”

“Absolutely.” Remy looked at the picture again then nodded.

“How soon do you need confirmation?”

“Take your time, make absolutely sure he is who we think he is,” Chamber said. “When it’s done, we’ll get you out.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“Hidden Void cultists?” Scott and Alex shared a grim look as Remy nodded. “Was he?”

“Absolutely,” Remy confirmed. “Took me a good two months just to get the confirmation, but once I did Chamber did his part and got me out. Managed to get me all the way to Gustary and then I made my way to Obrester in Fosmaria.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“I don’t suppose you’d know what the hell is going on?” Remy asked as he and the woman stood back to back, weapons out and facing about twenty armed men. “Because, as pretty as you are, I’d like to keep myself intact.”

“Then leave,” the blonde replied with a sniff. “I can handle this myself.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to ask you out on a date!” he cried as he braced himself for a rush. They moved together, dodging the rush and worked together in defeating all the armed men. With a satisfied smile, he turned and froze at the knife at his throat.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to go on that date?” he joked weakly. The woman’s eyes narrowed and for a moment, Remy wondered if this was the end for him before she smiled at him.

“You’re new here, so I’ll let you off with a warning,” she said, tapping the blade of her knife gently against Remy’s neck. “This is Obrester, home of the Assassin Guild and currently at war with the Thief Guild. If you want to live then get out of here.” With that, she turned and left, sheathing the knife and pulling up her hood.

“This is going to be interesting,” Remy murmured as he watched her walk away into the night. Smiling to himself, he turned and made his way to The Songbird Inn to meet with Jean-Luc LeBeau, leader of the Thief Guild and his father.

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“You met up with your father?” Scott asked in surprised. “I didn’t think you’d want to see him after everything.”

“I wasn’t really planning to,” Remy admitted, “but he sent a message wanting to see me. Like I said before, there was a war between the Thief and Assassin guild, and to be honest, I’m not quite sure why.”

“Why did Jean-Luc want you to come?” Alex asked curiously.

“To find a way to stop the war,” Remy said and sighed. “That was easier said than done in the long run.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

Remy stared in surprise at the sight of the woman, who in turned looked equally as surprised. He then turned to look at his father with a confused frown.

“What do you want me to do again?” Remy asked quietly. “And do you really hate me that much?”

“I need you to go with that assassin there and talk to the Keeper,” Jean-Luc replied then frowned. “And why do you think I hate you?”

“Remember that encounter I had a few nights ago with a woman?”

“Yes, it was most inter—oh. _Oh._ ” Jean-Luc’s face went blank but Remy could sense that his father was now very amused by the situation. He glared at him for a moment before he looked back at the assassins with an impassive expression. The woman had an annoyed expression on her face as she glared at the leader of the Assassin guild.

“We are agreed to let them go to the Keeper?” the leader of the Assassin guild spoke, ignoring the woman’s glare. There were sounds of agreement from both guilds, and Remy and the woman stepped forward. “Good luck to you both.” Remy and the woman bowed to the leaders and left the room, making their way through the darkened streets of Obrester.

“So what’s your name?” Remy asked after a time of silence between the two. “I can’t very well call you lady all the time, right?” The woman glanced at him with an arched eyebrow and he just smiled back.

“Bella Donna,” she replied, looking away. “And what should I call you?”

“Gambit,” he replied.

“That’s not your real name,” she said in an accusing tone.

“I’m not into giving out my real name until I know you much better,” Remy responded with a smile. She gave an annoyed snort, but her eyes twinkled in amusement. They continued on to the Keeper’s place and Remy raised an eyebrow at the sight of the Night Shepard’s temple.

“You look surprised,” Bella Donna said.

“I am,” Remy replied. “I would have thought the Keeper would be at a Dark God temple.” They continued on through the halls of the temple until they reached a door to the Keeper’s study. Bella Donna opened the door and entered the room, followed by Remy. The Keeper looked up, an old man in a priest robe, and sighed at them.

“The temple’s closed, go away,” the Keeper growled. Remy blinked while Bella Donna scowled.

“We wish to know where Candra is, old man,” she demanded. The Keeper tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as he looked over the two.

“Candra, huh?” the Keeper asked. “You two whelps have a death wish to go against that monster?”

“Not really,” Remy said while Bella Donna replied with a resolute “Yes.” She glared at him, and Remy shrugged. The Keeper snorted.

“A death-wish if I’ve ever heard one,” the Keeper said, shaking his head with a sigh. “As you wish, I will give you the location of her lair.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“So how powerful was this Candra?” Kitty asked.

“Really powerful,” Remy said as he rubbed his temple. “Story is, she’s a priestess of the Black Queen. From what I could get out of the Keeper, she’s been manipulating the Thieves’ and Assassins’ Guilds for the past few centuries, and she doesn’t look a day over twenty-five.”

“What?”

“You’re not serious!”

“That’s not possible!”

“I’m not lying!” Remy said, raising his hands and looking around the room. His audience had grown to include a few guards and servants, even spotting Lord Xavier, Erik and Lady Frost in the back. “Now this Candra was – and I suppose still is – a powerful sorceress who figured out some sort of elixir that granted people longer lives. It’s what she’s been taking, and Bella Donna and I had to put a stop to all her meddling.”

“So what happened?” Bobby asked. “Did you fight her and stuff?”

“Of course we fought her,” Remy replied, leaning forward a bit. “The tough part about the whole thing was that it was just me and Bella Donna. That woman wields a mean sword, which is especially great when we finally met Candra face to face…”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

The two were surrounded by her minions and Remy was wishing for the first time in his life that he had brought a short sword with him. Zombies were kind of new when it came into a fight and the rotting corpses were really freaking him out.

“Dark God take them!” he growled out. “We can’t keep fighting these monsters for long, Bella.”

“I know,” she replied, swinging her sword at one and lopping its head off. “This is a little bit out of my league.”

“A _little_ bit?!”

“Just shut up and kill them, Gambit!”

Candra was lounging on her throne and watching with a cruel smile as Remy and Bella Donna kept the zombies away from them. Remy knew that both of them weren’t going to make it through the ordeal without some intervention, so he decided to make one. Pulling some cards out, he charged them up.

“Get ready to duck,” he said to Bella Donna. She just glanced at him before sticking her sword into a zombie and swinging it off towards another. “Duck!”

She ducked and Remy launched his cards to his left and right. Explosions filled the room and some zombies were blown up. In the confusion, Remy pulled out more cards and blew up even more zombies.

“Go, Bella Donna,” he said. “I’ll take care of them. Go and finish off Candra!” The assassin nodded to him and dashed off to the throne. Candra by then had gotten off the throne, an angry expression on her face as she readied what appeared to be a fireball.

“You think you can defeat me?” she asked. “Think again!” The sorceress launched the fireball at Bella Donna, who managed to dodge it. Remy had to do some quick moves to avoid it, although his cloak still caught on fire. Slipping it off, Remy wrapped the cloak around his staff and used it to ward away the zombies.

“Eat fire, you abominations!” he shouted, shoving the flaming cloak into one. The zombie burst into flames, staggering back into another and setting that one on fire before it fell and stopped moving. Remy continued to wave the fire around, keeping the dead away from him before he realized that Bella Donna and Candra weren’t in the room anymore. “Dark God take them!”

Quickly looking around, Remy knew that the only way to get to Bella Donna was to get by the zombies. With that, he pulled out the last of his cards and charged it up.

“This is going to be a big boom,” he said with a grim smile and tossed the cards at the remaining zombies. The explosion was loud and spectacular, littering the floor with body parts. Smiling grimly Remy dropped the cloak and raced off to find Bella Donna. 

She was lying face down on the ground, a blank expression on her face when he finally found her. Remy could feel his heart freeze at the sight and then he heard Candra’s voice.

“Don’t look so surprised, thief,” she called out, her voice dripping with cruel amusement echoing through the room. “This is the price you get for crossing me.”

“Dark God take you, you bitch!” he shouted angrily. “Come out and face me, Candra!”

“Why do you care, Gambit?” Candra called out, ignoring his demand. “You’re not even part of either guild in O’Leons. Why do you even bother trying to help them?”

“Because thieves and assassin are all brothers of the night,” Remy replied. “We answer only to the Dark God in the end.” Candra laughed at his response.

“How noble!” she said. “And how stupid! Worshiping a dead god!” Remy was hit from the back and he fell forward, stunned by the hit. He rolled away in time from another hit and got to his feet, facing Candra.

“You’re in over your head, Gambit,” Candra said with a smile, flames surrounding her. “Tonight will be like any other night. The war will go on, and I will feast upon your blood and hate.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“I’m going to have to say right now,” Remy said, raising a hand, “I’m not quite sure what happened next. I just know that Candra and I faced down against each other, and in the end I won.”

“How can you not know?” a young man demanded. “You were there!”

“There’s this thing about fights,” Remy said solemnly. “Sometimes you can remember everything crystal clear and other times, it’s just a blur. In this case, it’s just a blur, but I do remember causing another big boom.”

“What happened to Bella Donna?” Rogue asked. “Did she die?”

“Thank the Tempest, no,” Remy replied with a sigh of relief. “I thought she was dead, but I got lucky and found an extra bottle of that elixir in the room. Bella Donna’s been doing fine ever since. As for Candra, well, she disappeared.”

“And the war?” Alex asked. Remy smiled.

“There is now a unified guild down in Obrester,” Remy said then shrugged. “We just call it the Dark Guild, since thieves and assassins all worship the Dark God.”

“Except you,” Scott added.

“Except me,” Remy agreed. “Jean-Luc and Marius are heading it, although from what I hear, they’ll be stepping down before long. I stayed around to help them with the guild for about a year and then I move on to a new city. That’s when things started to get interesting…”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“This is going to be tough,” Remy admitted as he looked through the papers. “I mean, I can get by the first and second area, but if the information is correct on the interior…” He trailed off, a grim look on his face. Chamber didn’t say anything, but his silence felt like a confirmation.

“Like you said, it’s going to be tough,” the Braonian acknowledged, “but I’ve heard the possibility of Reds trying to get in. If we can time our move with the other—”

“Heh, use a common enemy as a distraction? I like the way you think sometimes.” Remy looked over the plans again, this time adding the new variable. “Well, it’s still going to be tough but at least now it’s not a damn suicide mission. Any idea when the Reds are going to make their move?”

“Soon. Get what you need as soon as you can, we may even have to move tonight.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

Laura was specifically not looking at Logan as Remy relayed the story, and he dropped a hand down to give her a reassuring pat on the head. She sat up, her back against his side, and Remy snaked an arm around her, feeling her lean her head against it. He glanced over to see Logan with a look in his eyes, almost asking him to get on with the story.

“What was this Void camp?” Scott asked, leaning forward in his seat with a serious expression. Remy hesitated for a moment before Laura tapped his hand, urging him on.

“Breeding camp,” Remy answered, watching everyone in the room tense. “You know how I told you about those hidden Void cultists? Well, some of them were tasked with making better killers.” He leaned his head against Laura, sending reassurance to the girl.

“Oh, they made a lot of those,” he continued, “a lot of monsters. Blew up some of the labs myself. And then I found her.”

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“Come on, you two, those Void cultists aren’t going to be distracted for long,” Remy said, glancing around the corner before motioning for the two to follow. Already he could tell the little girl moved like a professional, silent but firm.

An assassin in the making. What in the Dark God’s name are they thinking?

They were close to the exit when a large woman stepped between them and the door. Immediately the girl froze while the woman moved before her as though to protect her. Cards in hand, Remy glared at the predatory look on the woman’s face.

“Kimura,” the woman hissed and Rey could feel the fear radiating from both her and the girl. “No.”

“Where do you think you’re going, you little shit?” Kimura said with a cruel smile, looking past Remy and at the little girl. In that moment, Remy felt anger and hatred towards the woman – all he saw was Candra toying with people for personal amusement only.

With that he let his cards fly.

\+ + + + + + + + + +

“And after we beat the crap out of that woman, we managed to get to a Dark Guild safehouse,” Remy finished. “Couldn’t risk meeting up with Chamber and the others, but I managed to get word to him that I was still alive. For a while we had to make sure the Void weren’t looking for us, so we took the long way around.”

“It was fun, except for the part where we had to be all prim and proper,” Laura added with an annoyed look. “That part sucked.”

“Please someone here teach her how to be a girl?” Remy asked in a plaintive tone, earning a few laughs from the girls. Laura growled, moving slightly away to give a half-hearted punch to Remy’s arm. “Ow.”

“Well, I’m glad you came,” Alex said with a smile. Scott nodded and Remy also heard murmurs of assent from the group. Looking around, Remy was startled by how late in the day it was.

“Have I been talking the whole time?” he asked in surprise. He hadn’t noticed the time when he was telling his story and now that he realized the time, he noticed that he was getting hungry. There was a growl and Bobby gave the group a sheepish look.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said with a smile. “Didn’t notice the time.”

“Same here,” Remy affirmed. “Kind of hungry myself.”

“Well, you did talk the whole day away,” Kitty said as she got up from where she sat. It seemed like a signal to the others as they all got up and started making their way to the kitchen. Remy looked up to see that Erik, Lord Xavier and the others with him had disappeared. He paused when Laura squeezed his arm, turning slightly to see Logan and a blue-skinned woman approaching them.

“Logan,” he greeted.

“Maravand,” he replied. Remy blinked in surprise. “Heard about it. Didn’t know what it really was, just that it was burned to the ground. Fury made doubly sure everything Void-related was crisped.”

“Good.” Remy grimaced. “Those monsters I was talking about, you don’t want them out in the city.” The blue-skinned woman poked at Logan who scratched the back of his head, an awkward expression on his face before he sighed.

“Want to have a late lunch together, Laura?” he asked. “I would like to talk.” Laura’s eyes widened slightly before she nodded, and when Logan held a hand out to her, she reached out to take it. Remy followed after the pair, feeling both happy for her and suddenly just a little lonely.


	6. Chapter 6

“You lied,” Laura said as Remy got ready for bed.

“Did not. I merely told them most of what I saw,” he replied with a sigh. Stacking up the pillows, Remy flopped onto the bed then looked over at her. “Besides they don’t need to know everything.” Laura frowned at that, moving to take a seat on the bed next to him.

“I guess,” she said slowly.

“How’s it going to your father?” Remy asked, changing the subject. Laura laid down next to him, snuggling up to his side. “And again, you are way too big to be doing this. People are going to start talking, and I really don’t want your dad to murder me.” She snorted.

“I don’t know,” Laura admitted. “He’s like me – he doesn’t know what to do. Raven’s helping—”

“Raven?”

“The blue lady from before.” Remy nodded. “She’s helping since she has kids, but, well, we’re both idiots.” He laughed at that and Laura glared at him before settling back.

“Are you going to leave soon?” she asked. Remy made an affirmative noise, running his hand through her hair. “How soon?”

“Maybe in a day or two,” he said softly. “I still have to talk to Scott and Alex. Then, well, maybe I won’t be back for a long time. Or at all.” Laura turned and hugged him, and Remy let out a gentle laugh.

“You know me, little sister, can’t bring trouble to family.”

 

 

“How is it going?” Raven asked as she laid on her side in bed, tracing his back with her fingers.

“With what?” Logan grunted.

“With my hopefully new daughter.” Logan snorted, turning to grin at Raven.

“Unfortunately, you won’t be playing dress-up with her,” he replied. “May have inherited more from me than whoever was her mother.” Raven let out a soft laugh at that and Logan turned to look at her.

“Anna said the same thing,” she said with a smile. “I think the girls and I will have to do something about that.” Logan snorted again, running a hand down her hips. Her smile turned seductive before she leaned forward and kissed him. He returned her kiss then kissed her deeper as he pulled her closer to him. She returned the kiss, moaning as Logan reached up and cupped a breast. She smiled as she broke the kiss and he returned the smile with one of his own before she leaned in for another kiss.

Sex was always amazing when it came to him. Raven knew that they looked like quite the odd couple, but if anyone actually realized just how old both of them really were, then they’d understand. She had worked with and against him for at least thirty years before they both decided to just work together. That of course led to interesting events and, of course, really fantastic sex.

“You know, Remy looks very familiar,” Raven said as they panted from the aftermath. “I’m sure I’ve seen him before.”

“Really? You’re thinking of another man after what we just did?” Logan growled as he kissed the back of her neck. She reached back to draw him into another kiss, tracing a hand up and down his arm. “I may need to do you again.”

“Fool.” The word was spoken without heat and Logan snorted.

“Look, you may have seen him,” he said as his hands wandered over her body. “He wandered around a lot, so there’s a chance that we may have met him and just forgot.”

“I don’t forget people that quickly,” Raven retorted. “You’re the one with the memory problem, not me.” Logan just scowled at her before Raven began to snicker.

“You’re a bitch,” Logan growled.

“And you love me for it.”

“Damn right I do.” Raven laughed softly and kissed him again.

“He’s still familiar to me,” she said. Logan sighed and laid back, letting her cuddle up to his side.

“The only place where you might’ve seen him,” Logan mused, “would have either been here in Avaongate, Gustary or Fosmaria. Doubt he’d try going to Prauland, what with the Reds going on and on about the Red Queen.” Raven hummed thoughtfully to herself for a moment. 

“Well, it’ll come to me,” Raven announced. “I’ll just have to keep an eye on him.”

“Suit yourself,” Logan replied with a shrug.

.

.

.

_He could feel the sadness in the air as He stared up into the dark gray sky, the rain falling coldly onto His face. Someone was calling His name, but He couldn’t quite hear who it was or whether it was a male or female. All He knew was that it was cold and He was oh so tired. He closed his eyes and thought He felt something warm fall on His face before it was washed away by the cold._

_“We’ve won, my old friend. We’ve won for now.”_

Remy jerked awake, eyes snapping open to stare up at the dark ceiling. He felt cold and for a moment he wondered if he had left the window opened. A quiet snore sounded next to him and Remy looked over to see Laura fast asleep against him.

It was such a strange dream and he wasn’t sure as to what had caused it. Laying back down, Remy felt Laura curling up against as he stared into nothing, feeling like he should know what the dream was about yet he couldn’t remember. He shivered under his covers and this time it wasn’t from the cold.

.

.

.

“So what have you two been doing for the last twelve years?” Remy asked in the early morning as he, Laura and his brothers walked through the halls towards the kitchen. Alex just yawned while Scott shrugged in response.

“Learning about our gifts,” Scott said. “Professor Xavier and Lady Frost have been training us on how to use it to help humans.”

“What?” Remy asked in surprised. “Help humans how?”

“We don’t know,” Alex replied. “They’re all awfully secretive, but Kurt did say that Raven and Logan have been going Prauland a lot recently. Every time they come back, they always seem to bring bad news since the professor always looks so serious after talking to them.”

“Prauland? The scary snowy place where everyone who follows the Red Queen is?” Remy asked. Scott nodded as he opened the door to the kitchen. The woman with red hair and a white streak through it and a dark-blue skinned man with a tail looked up from the table and nodded a greeting to the brothers.

“Morning, Rogue, Kurt,” Scott said curtly.

“Morning, Scott,” Rogue replied with a smile. “We going to have training today?”

“Yes,” Scott said. “Training will be at ninth glass. I’ll be assigning teams.”

“Okay,” Kurt said, nodding before he looked at Remy. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Remy replied, nodding to Kurt before he looked at Rogue. She just ignored him as she sipped her coffee and finished up her egg toast. Following after his brothers to the counter to get pick up some breakfast, Remy sighed at Laura’s plate, piled high with food.

“You’re going to get sick from all that food, little sister,” he scolded.

“Nah, I’ll burn through it fast,” she retorted.

“At least eat a fruit.” Laura rolled her eyes but dutifully grabbed an apple before moving to take a seat with Rogue and Kurt. “And use the knife, not your claw!” She replied with an obscene gesture, causing Rogue, Kurt and Alex to snicker.

“How long did you put up with that?” Scott asked as he and Remy moved back to the table. A faint blush colored Rogue’s cheek when Scott sat down next to her, and Remy schooled his face to not break out into a knowing grin.

“Far too long,” he replied with a sigh. “Again, what happened to my cute little sister?”

“She’s going through her rebellious phase,” Laura answered as she chewed on a piece of bacon. Remy sighed again as the others laughed.

“I am Kurt Wagner,” the blue-furred man introduced himself when the laughter died down.

“Remy LeBeau,” Remy replied, reaching a hand out to shake. Kurt took it and Remy was surprised to see only three fingers. “And I suppose you two know Laura.” Both Kurt and Rogue gave her a grin.

“Hello, Laura. I suppose we’re brothers and sisters now,” Kurt said.

“Please be a good influence on her, she won’t listen to me anymore,” Remy playfully begged. Laura stuck her tongue out a Remy. “Both of you are Logan’s kids?”

“Step-kids. Raven is our mother.” He nodded, taking a sip of coffee before turning his attention back to Scott.

“So what is this training you guys are going to have?”

“Battle training,” Scott replied as he ate his breakfast. “It teaches us how to fight and how to use our powers at the same time.”

“Not that the professor condones violence,” Alex added. “Now that I think of it, I think Emma’s more the beat-people-up type.”

“You are the more aggressive one,” Rogue noted. Remy chuckled while Alex gave them all a dirty look. The door opened and Raven stepped in. Kurt stood up as she walked over to them and gave her a hug.

“Good morning mother. Where’s Logan?” he said.

“Figuring out how to best mess up Scott and Alex’s training run,” she replied with a smile. Scott and Alex both groaned while Rogue laughed quietly. Remy took another sip of his coffee, noting the warmth she had between Kurt and Rogue. He honestly hoped she would show that same warmth to Laura in the future. Her attention then turned to him and Laura. “Will you two be joining the kids in training?”

“Kids?” Alex muttered, sounding rather offended. Raven gave him an amused glance while Remy looked over at Scott.

“I would like to see what this training is all about,” Remy replied, raising as eyebrow at Scott then over at Laura. “What about you, little sister?”

“I think I’ll watch,” she answered. “Maybe someone will pull you down a peg or two.”

“Really, Laura? Are you asking to see me lose?” Laura grinned at his dismayed expression.

“Don’t come crying to me if I beat the crap out of you, Remy,” Scott said.

“I could say the same to you, Scott,” Alex said, grinning at Scott.

“Ah, sibling rivalry. I’m glad we don’t have that problem,” Kurt muttered.

 

 

After breakfast, Remy had followed everyone to what was called the Danger Room where they met up with Logan. Scott and Alex then split up the people into four teams of four, Remy on a team with a native Stienian young man along with a young red-hair Fleusilian woman and a dark-hair Fosmarian woman. Shaking hands with them, he learned all their names and power.

The Fleusilian’s name was Rahne Sinclair and her ability was to turn into a werewolf. She also had a thick Fleusilian accent but thankfully Remy could actually understand her. The young man was Jamie Madrox and Remy was most amused by the introduction; Rahne smacked his shoulder and then there were two Jamies. The new Jamie quickly began to flirt with Remy and the original Jamie quickly reabsorbed him, apologizing profusely to Remy. The third was Monet St. Croix, a Fosmarian with multiple abilities, but notably strength and speed. She was also the most serious of the three, yet they all seem to follow Jamie.

Scott’s team consisted of Kitty, Kurt and a young girl by the name of Paige while Alex had Hank and Lorna as well as a Reosalan by the name of Piotr. Rogue’s team seemed odd to Remy, consisting of Bobby, Logan and a young winged man named Jay. There was some resemblance between Jay and Paige, and Remy was pretty sure that they were related, possibly even brother and sister.

The training was basically a free-for-all and Remy had thought that they would be training in a courtyard. Instead they were lead inside of the Danger Room, something Erik had created some time ago. Remy was surprised to see the stark room suddenly turn into what appeared to be ruins of a city during the evening.

“Holy…,” Remy said in awe. His teammates gave him an amused look as he looked around and even touched the ground and the ruins itself. “This is amazing…”

“What’s the plan?” Monet asked in an imperious tone.

“Scott does hit-and-runs,” Rahne said. “Kitty and Kurt are the best at that and Scott’s not bad at it either.”

“I agree,” Jamie affirmed. “We’ll let the other teams take them first unless they come at us. Then we need to take Kurt out first then Kitty. Paige is green, but I’m betting that she’s going to be sticking with Scott for this.”

“What about Alex and Rogue’s team?” Remy asked.

“Alex likes frontal assault,” Monet replied. “He and Lorna are really good together. Hank and Piotr though are more hand-to-hand, so it’s most likely they’ll be sticking close to Alex and Lorna as defense.”

“As for Rogue’s team, they’re wild cards,” Rahne with a nod. Remy frowned in confusion and Jamie spoke up.

“Bobby’s a natural prankster so he’s pretty good at pulling out surprises on his enemies,” Jamie explained. “Fortunately, he prefers to face his enemies to pull out his surprises. Jay’s pretty sneaky too, but all he can do is really fly around, so he’s going to be skulking around a lot.”

“Rogue and Logan are loners,” Monet added. “Usually Logan likes the frontal assault as much as Alex and Bobby, but that’s because no one has been able to beat him face-to-face. Rogue, on the other hand, will change up her strategy anytime because she uses her opponent’s abilities to her advantage.”

“That’s why she’s Scott’s co-leader,” Rahne said.

“Wilds cards, huh?” Remy gave them a nod. “Got it. Then I say we play hide-and-seek with them all.”

“Excuse me?” Monet asked, frowning.

“I don’t do face-to-face combat and hit-and-run usually means that people can still see you when you hit them,” Remy said. “I’m a thief, and usually thieves like to use the shadows to their advantage. Silent takedowns – non-lethal, mind you – and mind tricks are the best.”

“We are pretty good at stealth,” Jamie mused dubiously. “Do you think it’d work?”

“As long as we get the others to beat each other up first,” Remy replied with a lazy smile. “And I have a good idea how. First thing though, I think we should go for cover as soon as we can.”

“Heads up,” Monet said as she changed her stance to a defensive one. “The battle is about to start.” Remy instantly changed his stance, watching from the corner of his eye as Rahne shifted into her werewolf form and crouched down while Jamie also changed to a battle stance.

“You’re all in trouble now,” Alex said with a grin.

“Say that when you beat us,” Rogue said with a sniff. Scott gave no reply as he raised a hand up to his visor. Remy just took out a few cards. No one moved for a moment, all looking at one another warily, when Remy threw out three cards, one at each team and exploded the ground. Dust and smoke filled the air and Remy and his team scurried away into the shadows. He was sure the others also moved away towards covers, but now it was time to relate his team a plan.

 

 

“That was sneaky,” Alex grumped as his team warily made their way through the ruins. “I’m going to love beating the crap out of Remy.” Hank chuckled in response while Lorna and Piotr smiled.

“Just how good is he?” Lorna asked quietly. “I mean, Remy. We’ve only heard his stories, but they’re just stories in the end.”

“Well, I know back in the day, he could raid a house in under half a glass without alerting anyone,” Alex said after a moment’s thought. He would have said more when they all heard a rustle. Both he and Lorna raised a hand while Piotr changed into his metal form and crouched down with Hank. 

“Run away!” Jamie suddenly shouted as he ran out of nowhere towards Alex’s team with an iced-up Bobby hot on his tail. 

“Ack!” another Jamie yelled as he ran from another direction with Kurt chasing him.

“Oh my stars and garters,” Hank said. The two Jamies suddenly swerve towards each other, stopped and gave them all a cheerful grin and a wave before they started to melt away. Alex took the opportunity to blast at Bobby while Lorna went after Kurt.

“Dark God take them!” Bobby yelped, just barely dodging the blast. He hurled a few chunks of ice at the team, all of which was reflected away by Lorna. “Sneaky little…”

“I could say the same to you!” Kurt yelped as he teleported away from Hank and Piotr. “Although I’m sorry to say but you’re all going down!”

Rahne and Jamie were grinning with excitement as they watched Hank and Bobby take each other out and Alex catching Kurt off-guard and defeating him. The event was made even better when Rogue joined into the battle, catching Lorna off-guard while she was trying catch her breath. Lorna hit the ground as Rogue absorbed her powers and, in turn got rid of Piotr rather quickly before she raced off into the darkness.

Alex just looked at his fallen team and groaned.

“Go after him now?” Rahne whispered, a slight growl in her voice.

“No,” Jamie whispered back. “Our job’s done. Let’s go to the second site.” They quickly moved away, checking to make sure neither Rogue nor Alex had seen them and were following after. They met Monet at the second site, where she had Kitty and Jay there, both looking slightly sullen.

“Prisoners?” Jamie asked in surprise.

“No, dead people,” Monet replied calmly. “How did things go on your end?”

“Hank and Bobby took each other out,” Rahne reported. “Alex knocked out Kurt and Rogue took out Piotr and Lorna. Never thought that Jamie’s dupes would come in handy that way.” Jamie smiled cheerfully while Monet nodded.

“I caught Jay-bird here first since he was tracking Kitty,” Monet said. “Then I took out Kitty. Scott and Paige are to the west from here from my scouting of the area. We should be able to catch them off guard.”

“You guys are sneaky,” Jay announced, pouting.

“We had an excellent teacher,” Jamie said piously. “Although said teacher has a death wish.”

 

 

Remy, teacher of sneaky tricks, was currently having the time of his life. Logan was having fun as well – or at least Remy thought so – as they moved through a section of the ruins, fighting and dodging. It was almost like a dance if one stood by the sideline and Remy was the one leading it. He hadn’t expected to actually face Logan, but he should have expected some abilities to be the same between him, Laura and –

He quickly cut off that line of thought, dodging back from a claw attack. 

_Note to self: do not step in front of claws_ , Remy thought, watching as Logan slice the wall of a building like a hot knife through butter. _I don’t really want to see what those claws do to a person._

Flipping on top of a section of a well, Remy crouched down on it, a hand down to support him on the wall and his staff in the other. He studied Logan, breathing hard and giving himself a general idea on how to take on the man. Logan was crouched as well but had a grin on his face that bordered on maniacal.

“Didn’t think you’d last this long,” Logan said in a conversational tone.

“Same to you,” Remy replied with a smile. “But then again, I’m more use to taking out people who don’t know that I’m here.”

“Thought so,” Logan said with a nod. “Thieves always fight like that.” Suddenly Logan charged at Remy. Surprised, Remy threw himself backwards off the wall, flipping mid-air to land on his feet. Logan jumped over the wall and lunged at him, claws out first. Remy dropped and kicked Logan in the stomach before sending him over using his momentum. His leg strained at the weight of Logan and for a moment, Remy wondered what the man was eating to be that heavy. Logan landed with a roll and was back on his feet just as Remy jumped back onto his feet.

“You’re heavy,” Remy said, raising an eyebrow. “What in the Dark God’s name have you been eating?”

“Puppies,” Logan deadpanned. “Lots of puppies. They’re quite fattening, you know.”

“Well, for those poor fat puppies’ sake, I’ll have to beat you up,” Remy replied solemnly. Logan just chuckled and attacked again.

 

 

Rogue was startled to see Kitty and Jay sitting by the ruins together, talking softly together. Walking cautiously up to them, she gave her teammate a frown and he just gave her a sheepish look.

“We’re dead,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Monet caught us.”

“Really?” Rogue asked, frowning. “No wonder I didn’t see her going for Alex.”

“I was surprised as well,” Kitty added. “Monet’s tough enough to take on Hank or Piotr, and so is Rahne. I bet this has something to do with Remy.” Rogue gave them a thoughtful look before she nodded.

“I better start moving,” Rogue said reluctantly. “I still have to find Scott.” Kitty and Jay exchanged a look and Rogue raised an eyebrow in question.

“Monet, Rahne and Jamie are going after Scott and Paige,” Jay said. “I think maybe you should steer clear of them for the moment.”

“Can’t,” Rogue replied after a moment’s thought. “Both of you are dead an’ can’t really give me advice. Ah jus’ hope Ah get out of this alive.” She gave them a rueful smile and moved off towards the west.

It took Rogue about ten minutes to find Scott and Paige, and she was surprised to see that Rahne, Monet and Jamie were not present. Crouching behind a wall, she peered out to take in the surrounding, noting that Scott and Paige were in a very open area. Smiling to herself, Rogue moved towards a shadowed area and took off into the air. Floating up there, she then dived towards them.

Scott suddenly turned his head up to and fired at her, but Rogue was able to deflect it with a shield. She collided into him, but before she could do anything, Scott flung her off of him and scrambled up to his feet again. She threw up a shield to deflect another of his blast and would have blasted him back when Paige tackled her. Rogue grunted in surprise but held the shield up as Scott continued to blast at her. She kicked Paige in the stomach then launched herself away from the girl, charging towards Scott again.

Paige got up, ready to charge after Rogue when something tackled her. They rolled away from Scott and Rogue and into a shadowed area before the person got off of her. Paige rolled onto her stomach but froze at the sound of a growl. Slowly looking up, she found herself facing Rahne.

“Uh... hi?” she squeaked.

“Hello,” Monet replied as she appeared from above. “Guess what? You’re dead.”

“Aw man…”

Meanwhile Rogue succeeded in defeating Scott, absorbing his power. He laid there breathing hard and she sat atop of him, breathing equally hard.

“Lorna’s powers?” he asked after a moment.

“Yes,” she replied with a smile.

“How in Tempest did you manage to get her powers?” Scott asked, raising his head up to look at her. Rogue got off of him and looked around, a frown on her face as she realized that Paige wasn’t there.

“Luck,” she replied, “and where did Paige go?” Scott sat up and scanned the area, a frown crossing his face.

“I’m… not sure,” Scott said slowly. “She may be green, but she’s stubborn as hell. Actually, she should have jumped you even before you got me.” Rahne suddenly loped into view, tongue out and giving them an amused look. Scott and Rogue looked at each other, understanding coming across before they glared at Rahne. She actually looked like she was grinning at them before she turned and raced off into the trees.

“Sneaky,” Rogue said.

“Very sneaky,” Scott added. “I sense Remy has a hand in this.”

 

 

Remy’s nose itched and he wanted to scratch it, but right now, he was busy being on top of Logan. Shifting his feet slowly and carefully, he made his way over the tree branch, hoping it would support his weight as he stared down at Logan. Grinning to himself, he was glad that at the moment, he was downwind and Logan wouldn’t be able to smell him out for now. Logan growled and Remy would have bet that he would have been cursing about now.

Pulling out a couple cards, Remy charged them up and tossed them at Logan’s feet. Dirt exploded and Logan jerked away, leaving him unbalanced. Remy pounced at the moment, dropping down on top of Logan and slamming him into the ground. Logan’s breath was knocked out of him and Remy just smirked at him triumphantly, a foot on Logan’s chest and tapping his staff against Logan’s neck.

“Nice,” Logan said as he got his breath back. “Didn’t even sense you.”

“Thank you,” Remy drawled. “You’re not bad yourself. I don’t think I’d want to face you on a real battlefield.” Logan just grinned and Remy grinned back as he took his feet off of Logan and offered him a hand.

“But seriously,” Remy said, “what the hell do you eat? You weigh more than a horse and hitting you is like hitting a wall!”

 

 

Alex knew he was being hunted, but everywhere he looked, all he saw were shadows. Cautiously making his way towards the north, he thought he saw something move to his right. He turned to see, his hands readied to blast. Nothing met his eyes and for a moment Alex thought he was seeing things.

Getting slammed into the ground from above told him otherwise. He looked up, hands trying to push himself up, only to feel a weight above him and Rahne in front of him, her wolf form looking very amused.

“You’re dead, Alex,” Monet said from atop of him and tapping a finger on his cheek.

“I knew I saw something,” he grumped as he glared at Rahne. Rahne laughed quietly while Monet got off of him and helped him up to his feet. “Now that I think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen either of you.” He frowned.

“Jamie helped take out my team before you two come in,” he said aloud. “Remy had something to do with it, didn’t he?”

Monet just smirked.

.

.

“NOT THE HAIR, NOT THE HAIR!” one of the Jamies yelled in a terrified voice as he ran away back into the forest. “That’s one of my good points!”

“I thought that was our ass!” another Jamie said as he ran away from Rogue, who was currently firing red blasts at all the duplicates with her eyes. She groaned at that duplicate and tried to shoot him, only to miss.

“Eyes, hair, butt, who cares!” a third Jamie piped up. “Right now, I just don’t want to get hit!”

“Well then, point me to the real Jamie and I’ll shoot him!” Rogue yelled. Scott, who had accompanied Rogue, was currently sitting on top of a wall and had an amused expression on his face. Rogue ignored him and continued firing at the duplicates. “Damn it all, HOLD STILL!”

“NEVER!” all the duplicates cried, almost like a battle-cry. Scott nearly laughed as Rogue yelled out obscenities at the duplicates and actually succeeded in blasting one.

“That’s one way to distract him,” a voice spoke behind him. Scott started and turned his head to see Logan and Remy watching the fight, amused expressions on both their faces. Scott nearly gave a double-take on Logan at the fact that he actually looked amused.

“So who won?” Scott asked in a neutral voice.

“Me, of course,” Remy said.

“He got lucky,” Logan said reluctantly.

“Rematch another time?” Remy suggested.

“Damn right.” They both shared a grin while Scott shook his head in amusement before they all turned their attention back to Rogue and all the Jamies running around.

“I think it’s time I made my debut,” Remy drawled.

“Rogue’s going to kill you,” Logan said.

“Ooh, feisty,” Remy said, giving him a cheeky grin. “Well, she’s alone if Monet and Rahne did their jobs.”

“I knew you had something to do with this battle,” Scott groused.

“I had to pick up something over the years,” Remy said. He then sauntered towards the battlefield while Logan just leaned against the wall next to Scott. Scott couldn’t help but lean forward a bit, eager to see the coming battle. Remy slid out a couple cards but he didn’t charge them up, watching as Jamies bounced around and distracted Rogue. Rogue turned and spotted Remy sauntering up towards her and she scowled.

“Dark God take you!” she yelled. “All these hyper Jamies had to be your fault!”

“Hey!” a few Jamies called out, sounding rather offended. “We’re not hyper!”

“I am,” one of them piped up. Remy could actually hear the uncontained bounce in the voice.

“Shut up!” Rogue threw a hand behind her, her eyes never leaving Remy, and blasted at random. A few Jamies squawked and she hoped that the blast had hit some of them. Remy gave her a lazy smile.

“Oh good, we didn’t miss the battle,” another voice called out. Rogue turned to see Rahne and Monet arrive, with an annoyed Alex trailing after them. “I think you should yield or you’ll find it a hard battle to win.” Rogue looked around helplessly before settling on a scowl at Remy. Remy just gave her an innocent look.

 

 

The training session was entertaining and Remy had enjoyed it thoroughly, grinning as Laura made a face and paid Raven.

“Betting against me, little sister? I’m hurt!” Remy said, moving next to her and ruffling her hair.

“I’ll join next time. I doubt you can take on father and I,” Laura grumbled. Logan seemed to stiffen in surprise at that, and Remy’s smile grew larger.

“We’ll see about that, little sister.” He looked up to see Alex, Scott and Rogue quietly talking with each other, probably about what can be learned from the battle. “Hey, Scott, Alex. After you clean up, I need to talk with you in my room.”

His two brothers nodded, and with another ruffle of Laura’s hair, he dodged her annoyed swat and made his way to the bathroom. As he turned a corner, Remy’s cheerful presence disappeared, his expression turning serious.

It was about time to leave.

Before that though he needed to talk to Scott and Alex, but he dreaded to do so. Telling them had been out of the question yesterday since he had such a huge audience. He quickly washed up and pulled on a clean shirt before opening the door to the balcony, admiring the view. 

“What’s up?” Alex said as he and Scott walked in, hair still wet. Remy walked in and leaned against the wall by the balcony door.

“Have a seat, you two.” Alex raised an eyebrow then took a seat on the bed while Scott pulled a chair out. “So. Remember yesterday, how I said I found Laura at a breeding camp?”

“Yes?”

“Mother was there too.” Silence fell in the room as Alex and Scott gave Remy a shocked look. “I… she’s dead.”

“Mother…?” Scott whispered hoarsely.

“She’s…?” Alex began. Remy said nothing as he took in their stricken expressions. It had been eighteen years since their mother disappeared with Scott and Alex’s father Christopher. Remy was eleven at the time and had been just barely old enough to take care of the others, pick-pocketing people and breaking into buildings just to make some money for food. Scott had helped as well until his powers manifested three years later.

“Was father…?” Alex started again, his voice rough with grief. Scott looked down, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.

“I didn’t find Chris,” Remy said, shaking his head. “Gods, I don’t know if he was ever in the camp to begin with. And mother… she was just used for breeding purposes.”

“Dark God take them,” Scott swore, his voice rough. “Dark God take them all.” Alex slumped over, his hands over his mouth as tears fell from his eyes while Scott raised a fist to his mouth and bit down on a knuckle. Both of them were trembling and Remy looked away.

“I thought you’d both needed to know what happened to her before I left,” Remy said quietly.

“You’re leaving?!” Alex nearly shouted, jerking his head up to stare at Remy. Remy’s heart tightened at the sight of his tear-streaked face, watching as Alex got up. “Already? But why?” 

“Protection, for you two and Laura and everybody here,” Remy explained. “I stole Laura away from them! If Logan’s right and the Void base has been burnt to the ground then Laura will be safe here, with family. I, on the other hand… my face is known, that Void cultist I was tracking knows who I am and what I do. I’m a danger to you all and I’m not going to dump my troubles onto you, not after this.”

“You’re an idiot,” Scott said quietly. “We can help you, protect you too, but… I understand. Excuse me.” He straightened and walked towards the door.

“I’d like to be alone now,” Scott said softly. He opened the door and left.


End file.
